Tom and Mary Anne have had some discussions on this topic recently. Tom has pointed out that ours is perhaps the first nation in history where one of the biggest health problems for the poor is obesity. I seem to recall that Mary Anne argued that their obesity was caused more by poor eating habits.

Recently, the columnist Mona Charen had an interesting column on the subject. It's now in the archives, so scroll down to the bottom, click on archives, and select the title "Government Sponsored Obesity".

This morning, this article about a somewhat controversial study was published on UPI.

The study suggests that the current food assistance programs treat poor people as if they're starving. From the Charen article:

Yet every year, the United States spends billions encouraging lower income people to eat more. Twenty million Americans collect food stamps, which encourages over-consumption. Children are served 28 million hot lunches at school and 8 million breakfasts every day. It was assumed when these programs were passed that these children would probably not eat much if anything at home, so the school meals are larded with extra calories, giving 58 percent of the day's caloric allowance. But these kids do not go home to empty larders.



The WIC program is as sacred as a sacred cow can be in Washington, D.C. Just imagine the vicious slanders that would be hurled at anyone who raised a question about it. The program provides food -- and lots of it -- to pregnant and nursing women and to children ages zero to 4. A monthly package for a toddler includes nine quarts of fruit juice, 36 ounces of cereal, 24 quarts of whole or reduced fat milk, two to two-and-a-half dozen eggs and a pound of peanut butter, dried beans or dried peas.

If this were the only food the child lived on for a month, the amounts might be right. But like all of the other federal food programs, WIC does not take into account whether the family also receives food stamps, or other food assistance. Fifty percent of newborns are enrolled in the WIC program. While the program is required to provide counseling to new mothers on voter registration (the Democrats tucked that one into the law), they provide little to no guidance about healthy diets or exercise.



From the UPI article:

According to USDA data, the average benefit per person in 2001 was just under $76.



Anne Kim, director of the work, family and community project at the centrist-liberal Progressive Policy Institute, said that the threshold amount does not represent the reality of the program's impact on working families. (PPI is affiliated with the Democratic leadership council)

"That (75 dollars per person per month) is not very much money if you are talking about a family that has one income," said Kim.



Just for the record, my wife and I spend an average of about $120 a month on groceries including cleaning products and toiletries. Food stamps can only be spent on food items. We're fortunate - our grocery bills dropped radically when our sons left the nest. Even then, we weren't spending $75 per person per month on food. Perhaps our grocery bill is so low because we don't buy "convience foods" and we eat left overs. I've been brown bagging my lunch every day for many years and it costs well under $1 a day. It can be done.